This past summer, pretty little Cristin Capin became Cristin Serio, and asked me if I would cater dessert for her rehearsal dinner. I love to be at rehearsal dinners because of all of the excitement and anticipation that is in the air. Plus, Cristin has gotten to be a good friend of mine through the years, so I was thrilled to be a part.
Here are some photos of the cake table I designed for them, including some of Cristin & Sam's favorite cake flavors...
Photography by Jenny Spires
Name Cards by Brown Linen & Co.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving
Now that all the hustle around Thanksgiving is over, I can finally share a little bit of what I was doing for the holiday-- baking, of course! I had the task of planning dessert menus for three different holiday dinner parties... so I spent the majority of the day elbow-deep in pie dough and cake batter. I'm definitely okay with that, as I could choose a hunk of homemade apple pie over a pile of turkey and all of its tryptophan any day...
I adapted an already delicious pumpkin pie recipe from Daily Olive for the day... I threw in a slightly different blend of seasoning, and sweetened with honey. In my entire twenty years of living, I have never had a piece of pumpkin pie (obviously, my parents are foreign..), and it was interesting to bake a dessert without any preconceived notions on how it was supposed to taste. The feedback I got from pumpkin pie connoisseurs assured me that I was able to retain its authentic, American taste.
The pie had the perfect combination of spices, was not too sweet, and the crust was flaky and buttery.
I ended up making too much pie dough for the pumpkin pie, and so as to not let it go to waste, I threw together this delicious apple pie. My dad had brought me homegrown apples, and they turned out to be perfect in this classic pie...
This guy was a Pumpkin Spice cake with Honeyed Cream Cheese Icing... need I say more?
Any Thankgiving dinner- or meal, for that matter- is not complete without some sort of chocolate... For this particular meal, I made my Chocolate cake with Dark Chocolate Fudge Icing, topped with hand dipped strawberries.
Can't wait to see what Christmas has in store....
I adapted an already delicious pumpkin pie recipe from Daily Olive for the day... I threw in a slightly different blend of seasoning, and sweetened with honey. In my entire twenty years of living, I have never had a piece of pumpkin pie (obviously, my parents are foreign..), and it was interesting to bake a dessert without any preconceived notions on how it was supposed to taste. The feedback I got from pumpkin pie connoisseurs assured me that I was able to retain its authentic, American taste.
The pie had the perfect combination of spices, was not too sweet, and the crust was flaky and buttery.
I ended up making too much pie dough for the pumpkin pie, and so as to not let it go to waste, I threw together this delicious apple pie. My dad had brought me homegrown apples, and they turned out to be perfect in this classic pie...
This guy was a Pumpkin Spice cake with Honeyed Cream Cheese Icing... need I say more?
Any Thankgiving dinner- or meal, for that matter- is not complete without some sort of chocolate... For this particular meal, I made my Chocolate cake with Dark Chocolate Fudge Icing, topped with hand dipped strawberries.Can't wait to see what Christmas has in store....
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Cinnamon & Sugar Pecans
Does anyone else wonder why pecans are so prominent around Thanksgiving? I mean, what is it in us that makes us crave Pecan Pie as soon as November rolls around? And why is it that all of a sudden pecans appear by the ton in grocery stores around this time of year? Maybe I need to research the crop cycle of pecans...
Anyway, I was very much suckered in to this pecan craze at my last trip to the grocer. I picked up a pound of them without any real intention to bake a pie or do anything specific with them... which resulted in me making Cinnamon and Sugar Pecans... they were a sweet snack, and made the kitchen smell amazing as they baked.
Next year?... I'm rebelling and giving cashews some attention.
Cinnamon & Sugar Pecans
1 lb pecan halves
1 large egg white
1 tbsp water
1 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Beat egg white and water until foamy.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Dredge pecans in egg mixture, then toss in sugar until well coated.
5. Spread nuts on cookie sheet.
6. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Anyway, I was very much suckered in to this pecan craze at my last trip to the grocer. I picked up a pound of them without any real intention to bake a pie or do anything specific with them... which resulted in me making Cinnamon and Sugar Pecans... they were a sweet snack, and made the kitchen smell amazing as they baked.
Next year?... I'm rebelling and giving cashews some attention.
Cinnamon & Sugar Pecans
1 lb pecan halves
1 large egg white
1 tbsp water
1 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Beat egg white and water until foamy.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Dredge pecans in egg mixture, then toss in sugar until well coated.
5. Spread nuts on cookie sheet.
6. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Busy Little Baker...
I don't know what it is about the fall, but I seem to be surrounded by friends celebrating birthdays! I've been relishing all the opportunities to cook up tasty desserts for these celebrations, and last night was no different...
Here is a homemade Chocolate cake with Dark Chocolate Fudge Icing, topped with Chocolate Covered Strawberries... definitely not for the faint of heart!
Here is a homemade Chocolate cake with Dark Chocolate Fudge Icing, topped with Chocolate Covered Strawberries... definitely not for the faint of heart!
Banana Cookies
After baking mass amounts of Chocolate Banana cake for the NotWedding this past week, I found myself with an excess of bananas on hand. As much as I can appreciate potassium, I'm not the kind of person to eat a bunch of bananas unless they're married with chocolate or pecans or something else that ultimately diminishes their nutritional content.
So after looking through some recipes, I came across one for Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies... they turned out to be fluffy and almost cake-like, which I loved. They were a tasty and fun way to do something different with bananas!
So after looking through some recipes, I came across one for Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies... they turned out to be fluffy and almost cake-like, which I loved. They were a tasty and fun way to do something different with bananas!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Happy Birthday, Maggie!
A friend of mine celebrated her birthday this week, and requested a particularly delicious cheesecake as her birthday present. I came up with a white chocolate cheesecake with an oreo cookie crust, topped with a red raspberry sauce, homemade whipped cream, and chocolate.
Here's one of the few pictures i was able to snap before the whole thing dissappeared...
Here's one of the few pictures i was able to snap before the whole thing dissappeared...
Sneak Peek!
Well, the NotWedding is over, and it was a huge success. Dozens of talented vendors really worked hard to make it a memorable event.
Pictures from the wedding will be released and posted on here soon, so stay tuned for that... but to ease the suspense that I know is just oozing from your being, here are a few pictures of the samples I cooked up for the event:
Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Frosting
Chocolate Banana Cake with Mocha-fudge icing
Lemon Squares with Lemon Creme Icing
Pictures from the wedding will be released and posted on here soon, so stay tuned for that... but to ease the suspense that I know is just oozing from your being, here are a few pictures of the samples I cooked up for the event:
Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Frosting
Chocolate Banana Cake with Mocha-fudge icing
Lemon Squares with Lemon Creme IcingTuesday, November 11, 2008
Tuesday Afternoon
And so the preparation for the NotWedding begins...
I spent the majority of my afternoon filleting and shaving lemon skins in order to create little yellow flowers for a garnish.
I was starting to think I was crazy to be spending so much time on something that people will just pick off before they eat the dessert anyways, but these turned out so cute that I think that the labor was worth it.
I spent the majority of my afternoon filleting and shaving lemon skins in order to create little yellow flowers for a garnish.
I was starting to think I was crazy to be spending so much time on something that people will just pick off before they eat the dessert anyways, but these turned out so cute that I think that the labor was worth it.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Better late than never...
A few months ago, Abany launched the first annual Brown Linen Market. It was a great gathering for girls and guys to come shop, listen to some good music, and eat some good food.I was pretty stinkin' excited when she asked me to help out with food and, of course, dessert.
Here are some pictures from the event, photographed by Callie Murray.
chocolate mocha cake with a dark chocolate ganache
cherry-chocolate swirl cheesecake
creme puffs with a chocolate drizzle and raspberry reduction
baked tortilla chips with a blackbean salsa
Welcome!
Welcome to Cakes from the Coal's new blog!
Over the past week, I engaged a little contest for my logo and business card design. My dear friend Abany came up with the winning design, which I love.
But I thought it would be an injustice to branding and graphic design everywhere if I didn't post the honorable mention, designed by my fantastically talented brother.
Enjoy!
(back)
(front)
Over the past week, I engaged a little contest for my logo and business card design. My dear friend Abany came up with the winning design, which I love.
But I thought it would be an injustice to branding and graphic design everywhere if I didn't post the honorable mention, designed by my fantastically talented brother.
Enjoy!
(back)
(front)
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